Ahern still popular, poll shows

BERTIE AHERN’S popularity in his own constituency has been unaffected by the controversies of the past ten day, a new opinion poll has shown.

The poll shows that Mr Ahern would garner an incredible 50% of the votes in Dublin Central, more than the combined support of all the other candidates combined.

The poll in the Irish Mail on Sunday shows that voters in his constituency agree that his reputation has been damaged by the revelation that he was paid over €60,000 by friends and supporters in 1993 and 1994.

But it also shows that Mr Ahern would get an amazing two and a half quotas if an election was to take place tomorrow.

The Millward Brown IMS poll was carried out early last week around the time Mr Ahern gave his TV interview.

However, despite his huge personal support, it shows that both his running mates, Mary Fitzpatrick and Cyprian Brady would struggle to win seats.

Sitting TDs, independent deputy Tony Gregory (12%) and Labour’s Joe Costello (11%) are running in second and third place.

Surprisingly, Sinn Féin’s high-profile candidate Mary Lou McDonald has failed to make an impact in Dublin Central, according to the poll.

She has support of only 6% of the voters, lagging behind Patricia McKenna of the Green Party (7%) and Pascal Donohoe of Fine Gael (8%), who has proved a strong presence in the constituency

Support for Senator Brady and Cllr Fitzpatrick is worryingly low, as far as FF strategists are concerned. The poll predicts that Mr Ahern’s huge surplus will not be enough to help either clinch the final seat.